With the school now far behind them, Louie drove further into Aldock. For the majority of the morning they spent their time running errands for John. Not the type of work Louie would usually find himself doing, but with division still struggling in its beginning stages, he didn’t have much of a choice. Not a word has been said since dropping Rosa off. Louie kept his eyes straight ahead on the road, patiently waiting for what he knew was to come.

“I can’t believe you took Rosa on a hunt!” Emma exclaimed in disbelief. Instantly he felt a glare burning into the side of his head.

There it was. “I didn’t have a choice” Louie said.

“You did” Emma snapped.

“Not ones I was happy with” Louie murmured, “Anyway I had everything under control. It was a fucking Direhound! Rosa almost killed it herself”.

“That brings me to my second point. Why she was she even in there?” Emma asked, forcibly calming herself.

“I don’t know” Louie answered truthfully, “I left her in the car but from what I gathered something scared her. Frightened her enough to enter a building she knew contained a monster”.

He saw her nod in the corner of his eye. “How’s she been since you found her?” Emma asked in a gentler tone.

“Whatever your father and mother taught her works well. She’s successfully grieving and moving on. However, despite that I’ve noticed she’s becoming paranoid developing some kind of trauma. She’s constantly seeing something in the corner of her eye. My question now is, does Rosa actually see something or is it just her mind”.

“We’ll just have to keep an eye on her. John should be able to get her out of school today and then we just need to make sure one of us is with her at all times” Emma said. She then fell silent. Louie glanced to the left to see Emma staring intensely into his eyes.

“What it is?” he asked.

“What are your plans with Rosa? Taking her on a hunt, giving her the bestiary, the dagger. Are you trying to turn her into a hunter?” Emma questioned, a depth of concern coating her voice.

“No … I - I don’t know”, Louie sighed, “All I know is something is after her and that she needs to be able to defend herself. I’m doing what I think’s best Em, I never asked for any of this, just like you. I’m just playing the cards I’ve been dealt” he told her.

Emma said nothing but he caught her nodding again.

They pulled up onto street, the Elacti’s old residence a few steps away. Louie and Emma exited his car and walked up to the door. Glancing round he could see all the protection wards that had been destroyed that night had been restored and were once again functional. Together they firmly pounded on the door, a moment later it opened and Vanessa’s face came into view.

“Morning” she stated greeting them. Vanessa moved aside allowing them to enter. “Good to have you back sergeant. Congratulations on your promotion” Vanessa said to Emma as she passed.

“Thank you” Emma stated, “I just wish I could’ve returned under better circumstances.

Vanessa nodded solemnly as she closed the door and led them through the house. “The repairs should be complete by the afternoon” Vanessa informed, as she showed them around every room. They done their best to not disturb the many officers completing the final touches. The house was unrecognizable from the night of the attack, in fact it had been completely reformed, every surface and corner had been restored to a quality that’d allow the home to be put instantly on the housing market. Even all the furniture, carpets, wallpaper and flooring had been replaced. This seemed to deeply disturb Emma, Louie watched as her dead eyes scanned around everywhere they went searching for a familiarity that no longer existed. After being toured around the entire house and confirming its restoration they found themselves back downstairs in the main hallway.

“I take it that this is the origin” Louie said.

“Yes” Vanessa replied before calling out for everyone to stop working and for someone come to her. Instantly an officer was by her side holding out a steel case. Vanessa unclipped the cases locks and lifted the lid revealing a small gemstone device carefully placed on a cushion. The device was forged from a deep red stone that greatly resembled ruby, it took the shape of a long, slightly flat dodecahedron and had symbols carved into each of its faces. A memoria stone was its name, a tool fuelled by magic that held the ability to capture the conditions and appearance of a given area, for as long as it was stored within its gemstone casing. The first step in its activation was placing in the origin in which the initial capture was taken, it didn’t have to be in the exact spot, just very close.

Vaness removed both the cushion, still holding the memoria stone, from the case and placed it near the base of the stairs. Everyone took a step back and Vanessa removed her pendant, the same one all officers possessed, and tapped it against the stone’s surface. The unique silver metal, the pendant was forged from, interacted with the magic inside the stone. The memoria stone activated, the symbols carved into each of its surfaces lighting up a bright white as a red glow began to grow inside. The light filled the entire gemstone and erupted out in a pulse of translucent red that engulfed every surface around them. The house began to change, claw marks were cut into the floor and blood began to drip from the walls. In less than a second every aspect of the house, smell, appearance and sound reverted to the way Louie and the officers had seen it on the night of the attack. Louie glanced around, as always they’d produced a perfect copy. He turned to Emma and was shocked to see her hands shielding her mouth and horror-stricken eyes scanning over the devastation. With all his time away Louie had forgotten, despite taking after James, Emma was still just that little girl he knew trying to live up to her father’s name. Louie placed a gentle hand upon her shoulder.

Stolen novel; please report.

“No one will think any less of you if you sit this one out Em” Louie said.

Without hesitation, Emma shook her head. “I’m not a kid anymore Louie. I’m twenty-two and a sergeant with responsibilities I need to uphold” Emma stated.

Louie nodded before leaving her and the officers to their jobs. Passing a few officers who were heading downstairs clearly not wanting to be near the upper floor while the memoria stone was active, he headed upstairs. Louie made sure to take in every detail and aspect of his surroundings, searching for any tiny clue he might’ve missed last time that could aid him in figuring out this enigma. None of it made sense. It was as if a mindless monster had rampaged through the house however, certain rooms and areas were left in unscathed, suggesting a level of intelligence and a goal. Louie’s best guess was an extremely dangerous creature which possessed a strong intellect staging needless destruction to attempt to throw off the hunter’s scent. However, it hadn’t done a very good job Louie considered. Was it in a rush? Or is it an arrogant bastard and underestimating them?

Ignoring the thick stench of blood drifting from James and Mary’s bedroom the memoria stone was reproducing, Louie entered Rosa’s bedroom, one of the few rooms left completely untouched by the attacker. He walked over to her nightstand the note he found that night sitting unaltered on the corner.

‘Dad, mum just reminding you I’m staying over at my friends tonight.

Love you and see you tomorrow’

The note seemed to be wrote in Rosa’s handwriting but the small mark in at the top right corner, which may seem just like a doodle to the unknowing eye, told Louie it was actually either James or Mary who wrote this. Combined with a time constraint, the note was most likely what led to the attacker leaving instead of searching the house more thoroughly. That also meant this creature could read, it could comprehend the human language. Louie ran his hand through his hair and scratched his head. Just what was he up against? It couldn’t be bestial otherwise it’d have found Rosa by scent plus James and Mary would’ve been able to put up a greater fight. It was clear whatever they fought was so powerful they never stood a chance and by the sound of Rosa’s story they didn’t expect to be fighting it in the first place. But what get the could best of James Elacti? It had to be cunning, experienced, it’d have to be ancient.

“Fucking hell” a voice abruptly gasped breathlessly from the upstairs landing. Louie exited Rosa’s room to see Emma frozen in front in front of her parent’s bedroom, staring deeply at the horrors it held. Before Louie could reach her, she entered, her feet treading through the fabricated pools of blood that flooded the room’s floor. Louie and some of the officers, including Vanessa, followed her in. The room was as grim as both the first and second time he’d seen it. The bedroom had been completely devasted and blood stained the walls, like a child had been allowed to play with paint unsupervised, lashing it everywhere and spilling all the cans. Emma stared darkly into the far corner of the room where the mangled and violated corpses of her parents lay, now barely recognisable. Unlike her younger sister, Emma didn’t vomit and begin to hyperventilate instead she remained frozen, her muscles rigid and quivering. In her eyes burnt a wrath and sorrow Louie knew all too well. Her suddenly head snapped to Louie.

“What could’ve done this?” she questioned.

“I don’t know yet” Louie told her before leaving the room, there was nothing in there that could help him. Emma and the others quickly followed him out of the room with the final officer out closing the door seemingly eager to remove the view from their sight. Not that Louie blamed them for being disturbed.

Louie sniffed the again, ever since the memoria stone activation he could smell it. The same strange thing he’d smelt that night. Looking past the blood and decay there was something hiding. His body recognized the sensation and mind remembered the scent but neither would tell him what it was. A strange, rare smell that altered slightly with every whiff, never possessing one true scent. It was intoxicating like alcohol and perfume threatening to knock you unconscious if you let it grow too intense. Louie had smelt this before, he was certain he had. So why couldn’t he identify it. Irritated he took in another whiff, but it only made his frustration deepen.

“What’s that smell?” he questioned catching everyone off guard.

“Blood” Vanessa answered.

Louie stared at her deadpan, as if she was an idiot. “Not the blood” he muttered, “the other scent hidden behind all the gore”.

They all stared at him confused, some of officers looked at him worryingly like they thought he was going insane.

“Must be your enhanced senses” Vanessa stated.

He sighed and darted towards the stairs heading backdown to the downstairs hall.

“What are you talking about?” Emma asked trailing behind him.

“There’s a smell. It was stronger when I was here on the actual night but the memoria stone definitely managed to capture it” Louie explained, “I’m certain I’ve smelt it before, I just can’t remember when and where”.

Emma took in a deep breath through her nose but it was clear from her expression she was getting nothing however, unlike the officers she didn’t look at him like he was insane and instead sniffed again searching for the underlying scent. Louie doubted she’d be able to identify it, the last time he’d smelt it, it had been strong and concentrated and that was most likely the only reason he could pick it out today, but still he appreciated her trust.

Carefully, Louie maneuverered around the memoria stone and reached the hidden room beneath the stairs that Rosa had once hid in. Crouching down and peaking inside, his hand brushed over familiar symbols and markings painted and carved into the wood.

“hmm” he mused.

Suddenly a device rang behind him. He glanced back to see Emma answering her phone. Her face was creased in confusion as the conversation begin however, in mere moments her expression twisted into worry and fear.

“We need to go. Now!” she stated.